(CNN) -- The world may be facing a deep recession but the United Nations says it needs a record $4.8 billion more in humanitarian aid for 2009 because several crisis situations "deteriorated significantly" in the first half of the year.

Countries such as Zimbabwe are facing significant humanitarian problems.

U.N. agencies will need $1.5 billion more than projected for a total of $9.8 billion in 2009, said John Holmes, the U.N.'s humanitarian chief.

The extra money is needed after violence and food insecurity worsened living conditions for millions of people in the first half of the year, Holmes said.

"It is clear that the global recession puts pressure on the aid budgets of all donor governments, but of course it puts immeasurably more pressure on crises-stricken people in poor countries," said Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

"If just a fraction of the hundreds of billions of dollars recently committed by governments to private financial institutions were allocated to humanitarian action, these appeals could already be fully funded, and those in need could be getting the best available protection and assistance, on time," Holmes said Tuesday at a mid-year review conference in Geneva, according to a U.N. statement.